It is now a year since I lost my lovely wife, Sarah Davies Petersen, who passed away while on vacation in Denver. Sarah came down with a major blood infection and other complications, not Covid, and spent her last days in ICU at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver, where she died peacefully in her sleep on July 16, 2021.
Sarah was born at the Huntington Hospital in Pasadena on August 7, 1942, to William and Mary Davies. She was initially raised in San Gabriel before her family moved to San Marino, where she graduated from San Marino High School in 1960.
She elected to attend college outside of California, graduating from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1964, majoring in English and History. While there she met her first husband who became a career Army officer. Sarah received her master’s degree from Chapman College which allowed her to teach at several military schools.
Divorcing years later, Sarah returned to CA and reunited with a South Pasadena High School graduate, Denis Petersen, ultimately marrying him in Las Vegas in 1980. They were happily together for over 40 years and loved to travel. Over the years they took in 20+ foreign exchange students which allowed them to visit the student’s families and countries. On 9-11 they were with a family in Turkey. Through the years they have kept in touch with many of the students, including one from Wuhan, China.
Both Sarah and Denis worked for the City of Pasadena, retiring from there within a year of each other. Sarah was a Senior Code Compliance Building Inspector for the city. They owned homes in California and Colorado, where they spent many happy years with family and friends.
Sarah is survived by her 2 sisters, Diana Doll, of San Juan Capistrano, and Sandra Jansen, of San Clemente, along with many nephews, nieces, grandchildren and other family and friends from around the world.
Please sign the guestbook at legacy.com/obituaries/sgvtribune.